SERMON 

ON THE 

CONSECRATION 

OF THE 
RIGHT REVEREND 

BISHOP MOORE, 

OF NEW-YORK. 



SERMON, 

DELIVERED BEFORE THE 

GENERAL CONVENTION 

OF THE 

PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH 

IN THE 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

IN ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH, TRENTON, NEW-JERSEY, ON FRIDAY, 
SEPTEMBER 11, 1801, 

ON THE 

OCCASION OF THE MEETING OF THE SAID CONVENTION, 

AND OF THE 

CONSE C RAT ION 

OF THE 

RIGHT REVEREND BISHOP MOORE, 

OF NEW-YORK. 

BY THE RIGHT REVEREND 

WILLIAM WHITE, D.D. 

Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of Pennsylvania, 



N E W-Y C R K t 

Printed by T. J. SWORDS, No. 99 p4rl-street 



Extract from the Journals op the General Convention, 



House of Clerical and Lay Deputies^ 

Friday, Sept. ii, i8oi, P. M. 

" On motion, Resolved, That the thanks of this House be presented 
to the Right Rev. Bishop White, for his Sermon, delivered this day, 
at the consecration of the Rev. Dr. Moore, and that he be requested 
to furnish a copy of the same for publication." 

In consequence of the foregoing resolve, the original copy of the Ser- 
mon was delivered to a committee in New-York, by whom it is pub- 
lished. 



A SERMON, &V. 



St. JOHN iv. 35. 

Say not ye. There are yet four months, and then cometh 
harvest ? Behold, I say unto you. Lift up your eyes, 
and look on the jields; for they are xehite already to 
harvest. 

To understand these words we must have regard to the 
occasion, to the time, to the proverb quoted, and to the 
contrast drawn. 

The occasion was our Saviour's having held discourse 
with the inhabitants of a Samaritan villa ore: and as this was 

o 

his first opportunity of addressing persons who were in the 
(darkness of heathen error, it brought to his mind the splen- 
did property of his mission, that he should be " a light to 
" enlighten the gentiles, and for salvation unto the ends of 
the earth." 

The time was the seeding season of Judea, as appears 
from the term specified — " four months;" that being com- 
monly the interval between the seeding season and the 
harvest. 

The expression — " say ye not" that this is so, refers to 
what we are told of its having been a proverb among the 
Jews: and the ground of the proverb is in the satisfaction 
with which the husbandman, having lodged his seed within 
the soil, anticipates a joyful increase. 

But between this case and the matter intended, there is a 
contrast drawn: for the husbandman, after all his labour, 
had many a fear to undergo, from chilling winds, from 
parching heats, and from drenching rains, before his green 



6 



stalks should be crowned with the full ears ; the white hue 
of which would show that they would be soon the golden 
grain, fit for the reaper's sickle. Not so the gospel harvest: 
for " behold/' says our Saviour, " lift up your eyes and 
"look on the fields, white already:" that is, the time is 
come ; the world is prepared ; the means are at hand ; and 
the event is sure. 

It is probable that this transaction fell in with what is said 
by another of the Evangelists — " From that time Jesus be- 
** gan to preach, and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of 
" heaven is at hand:" so that now was the eve of the gos- 
pel day: now was to begin that sound which should " go 
" out into all lands, and its words unto the ends of the 
world:" now was to be verified what our Saviour had 
just before told the Samaritans, that the local worship of the 
Jews was to give way to an universal " worship of the 
" Father, in spirit and in truth;" and that his own blessed 
instructions should be in die hearts of believers, " a well of 
" water, springing up into everlasting life." 

You see, then, that the text respects an event, which, 
at the time, was just about to take place; namely, the 
establishment of Christ's Church, emphatically called his 
kingdom on earth. It is a subject that has its encourage- 
ments and its duties. I chose it with a view to the present 
ecclesiastical convention ; because such a body, at any pe- 
riod of the Church, can have no proper object, except in the 
way of instrumentality to the event foreshown. But there 
having occurred, unexpectedly, another occasion, which calls 
for some notice from this place, I consider, with satisfac- 
tion, that there are no sentiments arising from my subject 
previously selected, but what will apply alike as a charge 
and as an incentive to our Rev. Brother, now entering into 
the highest order of the ministry. And when I contemplate 
both these occasions in connection with the present state of 
the world in general, and of this our country in particular, 
there opens so wide a field of gospel labour, that I find my- 



7 



self warranted to apply to my text that saying of our Saviour 
on another occasion—" This day is this scripture fulfilled 
" in your ears." 

The use which I intend to make of the text is as follows : 
1st. To lay open to you the ground on which our Sa- 
viour predicted the success of the ensuing preaching of his 
gospel. 

2dly. To bring before you the encouragement which we 
have at this time, to expect an happy issue of our labours, 
in the same blessed work : and, 

3dly. To apply to the state of our Church what shall be 
said on both these heads, in respect to the influence which 
they should have on doctrine, on discipline, and on morals. 

1 . I am to lay open to you the ground on which our 
Saviour predicted the success of the ensuing preaching of 
his gospel. 

That ground is in the crisis to which all the manifesta- 
tions of God to man, after his apostasy, have a reference. 

The most distinguishing characteristic of the history of 
the Bible is its presenting us with a long series of cir- 
cumstances, connected with one another, and terminating 
in a great event, which could have happened at no other 
time than that when " the Sun of Righteousness arose, with 

healing in his wings." With the curse upon the ground, 
and the sentence of man's mortality, there was given the 
consoling promise of " the seed of the woman to bruise 

the serpent's head:" And to be a sensible representation 
of the promise, pointing to the fulfilment of it, sacrifices 
were instituted, to be figures of that great sacrifice, which 
should be made in due time for sin. 

If we carry on our attention to the patriarchal age, we 
find nothing in it more conspicuous than its being distin- 
guished by promises not at that time fulfilled. The Apostle 
St. Paul, in reference to this very point, says, " By faith 
" Abraham sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange 

country : By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, con- 



(i 



8 



" ceming things to come: And by faith Jacob, when he 
" was dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph." Yes, it 
was all in faith, and not in sight ; in expectation, and not 
in enjoyment, that they were distinguished by the divine 
blessing. If this life, and if those times only had been in 
question, we see nothing, in the circumstances of the per- 
sonages spoken of, answering to the chain of expectation, 
that reaches through their history, of good things in store, 
from a dispensation, in which themselves, their posterity, 
and, indeed, the world were interested; an expectation, 
which we find the last of them delivering to his sons, with 
some note of the time when it was to be accomplished ; viz. 
when the sceptre should be departing from the tribe of 
Judah. 

The later we descend, the more evidence we find of the 
time designed. Thus Haggai makes it between the building 
and the destruction of the second temple: Malachi " seals 
** up the vision and prophecy with an annunciation of the 

Messiah's harbinger:" But the Prophet Daniel is the 
most precise of all, when he specifies seventy weeks of years, 
^s what should end with the " bringing in of everlasting 

righteousness, and the anointing of the Most Holy." 

All these predictions, and many more, apply to the time 
of our blessed Saviour's appearance, as to the beginning of 
a new era, in which they were to have their completion. 
And I have taken this review, as conceiving that nothing 
can more recommend the publishing of the glad tidings of 
salvation, or more powerfully persuade to the contributing 
to that good work, than the seeing, that it was appointed as 
early as man's apostasy in paradise ; that it was foretold and 
hoped in by a succession of patriarchs, of prophets, and of 
saints; in short, that long and often before its commence- 
ment it was held out, as what should at last prove the com- 
pletion of all the dispensations of providence to the human 
race. 

This then is the ground of the prediction in my text; 



9 



and the laying it open prepares the way for my remarks 
under the second head; 

2. Which is to bring before you the encouragement we 
have at this day to expect an happy issue of our labours ia 
the same blessed work. 

For, 1st. It is a continuance of the same merciful dis- 
pensation to mankind. We have seen how wonderfully the 
prophecies of the Old Testament centered in the point of 
time which our Saviour has called the beginning of his 
gospel harvest. But thence arises another chain of pro- 
phecy, which will end in the finishing of the harvest, by 
" the binding of the tares in bundles, to bum them, and the 
" gathering of the wheat into the bam:" for such is the 
figurative language in which there is represented to us the 
final appointment of rewards to tlie righteous, and of punish- 
ments to the wicked. 

There is a very expressive prophecy to this purpose, in 
which Christ compares his Church to " a grain of mustard- 
seed, which was the least of all seeds; but yet (in the 
" climates of the east) became a great tree; so that the 1 
" fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it.'' The 
smallness of the seed was, indeed, a fit emblem of the hum- 
ble beginning of Christianity; the branching out into a tiee 
was a lively representation of what happened in the ensuing 
increase of the Church ; and the circumstance of the fowls 
of the air finding shelter under the branches of it, corre- 
sponds with the consolations and the uses of Christian Doc- 
trine. But yet we are not to consider the prophecy as fulfil- 
led until, agreeably to the clear sense of other prophecies, 
tlie fulness of the gentiles be come in." 
As there is thus a continuance of the same dispensation 
in another chain of prophecy, so, 2dly. There is the same 
divine commission on which to rely for success. 

The promise of Christ to his Apostles, and through them 
to his whole Church, that he would be with them to the end 
"of the world," is as much in force at the present day as 

B 



10 



it proceeded from his gracious lips. I'he command 
originally given — " Go ye into all the world and preach the 
*' gospel to every creature," comes as authoritatively in suc- 
cession as when it was first received. As to any hindrances 
which have occurred to the accomplishing of the full effect 
of such promises and of such commands, they are what 
were foretold in scripture. Stilly the " promises of God in 
" Christ are yea and amen;" that is, immutable and sure; 
carrying on our expectations to the time, when " the ful- 

ness of the gentiles shall come in," and when the king- 
dom of the Messiah shall cover the whole earth, as the 
" waters cover the sea." 

As there is thus the same commission, so, 3dly. There 
are stipulated the same divine aids, as well, generally, to all 
for whose sake the commission was given, as, especially, to 
those vested with it. The promise, that " where two or 
" three are gathered together in Christ's name, there is he 
*^ in the midst of them," was a pledging of divine truth, 
which no length of time can abrogate or weaken* What 
animating promises, to the same purpose, do we ineet with 
every where in scripture I Such as, of " a strength to be 
*' made perfect in our weakness;" of " a grace that is to be 
** sufficient for us;" of " a love" which " will bring us 
" off more than conquerors" over our spiritual enemies; 
and of " a power," by which we shall be " kept through 
" faith unto salvation ! " In connection with these aids, and 
as the ordinary means of their conveyance, we have the 
same sacraments, to be the seal and the outward sign of that 
inward grace; all designed for the strengthening of our 
faith, for the confirming of our resolutions, and for the in- 
creasing of our graces ; and further, to keep steadily before 
our view that great end of all, " the life and the immorta- 
*' lity brought to light by the gospel." 

4thly. I cannot leave this branch of my subject without 
adding, as another encouragement, or rather as a circum- 
stance giving weight to all the encouragements enumerated, 



11 



tfiat the time in which we live is such as naturally prompts 
the expectation of the enlargement of the Messiah's king- 
dom, held out to us in prophecy. 

It cannot be unknown to you, that many of great name, 
in different countries, have had their attention drawn to this 
point, and especially to the openings which they think they 
discover of it in the book of Revelation; which has been 
profanely called a " book of riddles;" but is not exceeded 
by any book, either in the nicely wrought contexture of its 
parts, or for the evidences of a deep design throughout the 
whole; and of which there have been some predictions so 
conspicuously fulfilled (predictions expressed in symbolical 
language, but intelligible from the use of the same symbols 
in other parts of scripture), that we have reason to rely on 
it in regard to events to come. 

It is not my design to bring before you all the reasons 
which have occurred of the expectation stated. I will, 
however, principally mention one passage of the said book, 
which has made a particular impression on my mind. It is 
in the 14th chapter; where, after the events of the sixth 
trumpet, which are supposed to reach down to the age in 
which we live, and just before the fall of mystic Babylon, 
which, in subsequent parts of the prophecy, appear to be 
connected with the sounding of the seventh trumpet, not 
yet heard ; I say, at this crisis the sublime symbol is intro- 
duced, of " an Angel, flying in the midst of heaven, hav- 
" ing the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell 
" on the earth; and to every nation, and kingdom, and 

tongue, and people:" a symbol, the sense of which can-^ 
not, I think, be accomplished in the preaching of the gospel 
between the two periods, amidst the darkness of the inter- 
vening times, which is the interpretation commonly given 
to it; but, considering the new agent introduced, the so- 
lemn notice given of him, and the extent of his errand, 
seems to be a new and general extension of the faith. 

Whether tliis shall happen in consequence of persecutioii^s 



12 



first falling on the professors of Christianity, as some think 
there is prophetic ground to apprehend, and which shall 
cause their religion to extend itself into distant countries, 
in like manner as literature formerly spread itself over the 
western parts of Europe, in its flight from the desolations 
of the eastern ; and whether a temporary prevalence of in- 
fidelity shall be marked with such bloody violence as to 
draw men back to the mild religion of Jesus, divested of 
whatever coiTuptions may have been grafted on it; and 
whether it may not be the splendid privilege of the land in 
which we live, to be, the most conspicuously, the scene of 
the fulfilment of the prophecy, by exhibiting a concurrent 
progress of Christianity and of civilization, are points which 
I do not presume to determine, and which do not materially 
affect the remark I have introduced: for the event being 
sure, but the time and the means of it locked up in the coun- 
sels of God; the expectation of it is an encouragement to 
gospel duties and to gospel labours. 

What inclines me the more to the interpretation given, 
3S the consideration of two events predicted in the same 
book, and, in all probability, not now remote: I meaa 
the ceasing of the dominion by which the Arabian impos- 
ture has been supported, and the overthrow of the Roman 
power in its seventh and last head. And when I say that, 
in all probability, they are not remote, I allude to the long 
interval which has taken place since the event which was 
the subject of the sixth trumpet; and the place assigned to 
the events now spoken of, which will be under the seventh. 
In regard to the first of these events, the specified periods of 

an hour, a day, a month, and a year," however figura- 
tive the language, denote a determinate time in the coun- 
sels of God : and although I presume not to fix the begin^ 
ning and the ending of the term, yet I contemplate a rela-r 
tion between the ending of it and that other figure of " the 
" drying up of the Euphrates, that the way of the King^ 
■* of the East may be prepared:" which I suppose can de- 



13 



note nothing short of an opportunity given for the conver- 
sion of the nations who have been under the iron sceptre 
of the impostor and his successors. In regard to the other 
event, I should be misunderstood if I were thought to im- 
plicate pious and virtuous persons of any religion, or of 
any station, in the woes denounced under this deparanent 
of the prophecy. The tigurative language of a beast, with 
tlie attributes in which he is arrayed, must mean, in this 
book, as in the book of Daniel, fi om which the figures of 
this are in a great measure taken, not a person, not a suc- 
cession of persons in their individual capacities, but a power. 
And when this political agency, this metaphysical Being, 
is described with the properties of persecuting and idolatrous, 
I conceive that tlie censure can no further apply to real 
persons, tlian as tliey may have been caiTied, either con- 
trary to their convictions, or through the influence of pas- 
sion, into habits of idolatry and of persecution. With this 
caution against the charge of uncharitableness in myself, 
pnd against the danger of exciting it in others, I profess the 
opinion that the book in question is utterly unintelligible, 
but on the principle of applying the metaphor of the beast 
who took the dragon's seat, to that power which arose 
during the dark ages, within the bounds of the western 
Church. And it is the downfal of this power at the sound- 
ing of the seventh trumpet, as it is expressed in one place, 
or at the pouring out of the seventh vial, as it is in another, 
when a new and better dispensation of Providence is to 
begin; under which " all the kingdoms of the world are 
^' to become the kingdoms of the Lord, and of his Christ." 

Let me not be supposed chargeable with the folly of cal- 
culating the times of events, which, for the evident pur- 
pose of obscurity until the times shall come, are wrapped 
up in hieroglyphic language. No; I leave such knowledge 
to the dispensations which are to disclose it; when there 
will, doubtless, stand forth as evident a correspondency be- 
tween the events and tlie figurative exliibitions of them, as 



14 



there is now in regard to past events which had been fore- 
told in this very book : for instance, the rise and the vast 
extent of the Saracenical and the Turkish empires ; concern- 
ing which it was impossible to have formed any precise ex- 
pectations from the terms in which they had been announced. 
And there is this unhappy circumstance attached to the being, 
by anticipation, " wise above what is written;" that it tends 
to reconcile men to very wicked deeds, under the idea that 
they are hastening the accomplishment of the divine pre- 
dictions. No doubt, the great Being " who makes the 
" wrath of man to praise him," will, in this line, as in 
the more ordinary dealings of his providence, overrule in- 
jurious passions to a subserviency of his eternal purposes. 
But his course, in this respect, is perceivable no other- 
wise than by the issue ; and, in the meanwhile, it rests with 
lis to judge of men and measures on the immutable grounds 
of justice and mercy, independently on the consideration, 
that good will be at last brought out of the temporary pre- 
valence of evil. But notwithstanding the abuses into which 
some well-meaning persons have been betrayed, the cir- 
cumstances stated may be considered as the opening of 
splendid prospects as to the future prevalence of the uncor- 
rupted gospel of the Redeemer. And if the field, in this 
extensive sense of the words, be not " already ripe to 
** harvest," the grain is in such forwardness as that the 
reapers should be in readiness to avail themselves of the ripe- 
ness when it shall appear ; and, in the mean time, there is 
work sufficient for the exercise of their vigilance, their ac- 
tivity, and the best gifts which they may possess, whether 
of nature or of education. 

The sum of what has been said is this : That the gospel 
stands not in the wisdom of men, but in the power of 
God: its preparatory dispensations, its miraculous establish- 
ment, and its subsequent progress, entering into every part 
of the series of Divine Providence, from the creation of 
the world to its dissolution. 



15 



Nevertheless, God acts here, as in the natural world, 
by second causes : so that, after the establishment of the 
christian faith by miracles, the extension of it will very 
much depend, under the divine blessing, on the zeal, the 
charity, and all the graces and the qualifications of its mi- 
nisters, and its other members, in their respective times and 
places. For this reason I proposed, under the third head 
of my discourse, 

3. To apply to the state of our Church what has been 
said, under the preceding heads, in respect to the influence 
which they should have on doctrine, on discipline, and on 
morals. 

Here I implore divine grace, to be guarded alike against 
that influence of infirmity which may make me mistake 
human opinion . for the infallible word of God, as against 
that extreme of caution which might keep back any mat- 
ters arising out of my subject, and profitable to us, either 
individually, or in relation to the trust at this time com- 
mitted to our management. 

First, then, in regard to doctrine, it must be evident, 
that if, as this whole discourse was designed to prove, it be 
a part of the plan of unerring wisdom, that Christian Doc- 
trine should have an important, an increasing, and, at last, 
an universally pervading effect on the condition of man- 
kind, it must be accomplished by something inherent to the 
system, and of which it cannot be deprived without its ceas- 
ing to be the contemplated instrument in the divine hand. 

If this be so, here is a powerful motive to christians of 
all degrees, to maintain inviolate the precious deposit of 
" the faith once delivered to the saints.'* Especially, it 
brings an obligation to that effect on the consciences of 
those to whom is committed the superintendance of ecclesi- 
astical concerns; and it intimates cause of fear, that the 
neglect of so sacred a trust may be visited by the judgment 
denounced in scripture relative to the very delinquency in 
question; viz. " the removing of the candlestick out of its 



is 

"place," or the ceasing to be a branch of Christ's mystic 
body. 

It will not be thought that I am cautioning against m 
imaginary danger, when it is recollected, that in these lat- 
ter ages there has been a growing disposition to accommo- 
date to a concurrent growth of infidelityj by laying little 
stress on those parts of the ciiristian system which are exclu- 
sively christian, and by representing its blessed Author as 
little else than the teacher of a rule of morals^ It would 
be easy to show that such prevarication has been the means^ 
not of checking infidelity, but of extending it. This out 
of the question, it is a mean which no apparent bene£t of 
the end can justify; especially as it is evident, throughout 
the whole history of Christianity, that, as well its consola- 
tions as its restraints^ have been the most conspicuous in 
the conduct of mankind, when its doctrines and its precepts 
have gone together in a consistent union. 

It will not be expected that I should, at this time, make 
a display of the body of christian doctrine. It may be pro^^ 
per, however, to advert to a few leading points, in evi- 
dence of the sentiments which have been expressed. With 
this view only, then, I add, that the ground-work of the 
whole scheme in man's loss of his original righteousness; 
that, by way of remedy of this, the mediatorial character 
of Christ, involving the sacrifice wliich he made for sin^ 
in the strict and proper meaning of the expressions; as 
connected with every branch of the subject,, his divinity, 
and his existence before all ages; and, as stamping a cha- 
racter on the entire design, its being a dispensation of grace, 
meaning of grace or feivour as the operating motive of the 
divine mind, and of grace or aid as essential to man's per- 
formance of the conditions of the gospel covenant; are 
points not dependent on detached passages of holy writ, 
but pervading all its books. They are points which have 
been held by the Church at all times and in all places, and 
have always entered into the encouragements and the hopes 



17 



of christiaius. OF consequence, if there be any promises 
which favour the expectation of a future increase of the pre- 
valence of the gospel, such promises can have no force, 
otherwise than as connected with these characteristic doc- 
trines of the system to be propagated. 

On this occasion, then, I remind the Clerical Members 
of our assembly, of the duty lying on us so to form our 
discourses from the pulpit as not to separate what God has 
thus joined together, in his revelation of himself in the 
gospel. You will understand me, my Rev. Brethren, as 
meaning that we should be not merely moral, but gospel 
preachers. God forbid that I should echo the cant of those 
who value themselves on the decrying of moral righteous- 
ness — -that perfection of the human character, or rather of 
the divine. But however full the scriptures in their display 
of every branch of moral righteousness, their principal be- 
nefit to man, in his present state of infirmity and sin, is in 
the motives and the aids by which virtue and duty of 
every sort are brought within the sphere of his attainment 
and his practice. 

Is it, then, that the minister -of the gospel is never to 
make a particular moral daty the professed subject of his 
<.liscourse ? It is not my design to say so : but what I mean, 
is in relation to the three points which follow, and which,, 
I conceive, should distinguish him from a preacher of mere 
moral righteousness. First. That the leading doctrines of 
the gospel should be, occasionally, the especial subjects of 
his discourses : next, that moral duties, inculcate them when 
he may, should be grounded on christian principles, and 
enforced by christian motives: and, principally, that the 
same righteousness ought not, according to his statements, 
to be a mere " cleansing of the outside of the cup and 
" platter," consistent with uncleanliness within, but should 
be, what the gospel precepts are so foil of, that renovation 
of the heart which is the only source of real rectitude in the 

c 



18 



life, and the only evidence of our being within the gospel 
covenant. 

In delivering these sentiments, I will clothe myself with 
the sanction of an eminent character much venerated in 
this country in his day. The person whom I mean is the 
late Archbishop Secker ; and I allude to a letter of his re- 
lative to a disturbance which had arisen in one of our Ame- 
rican congregations. The American clergy had been re- 
presented to the Archbishop as not being gospel preachers : 
In relation to which he advises to guard against the re- 
proach, by more diligently inculcating whatever truths 
border on the errors existing in the quarter from which 
the accusation came. The letter, addressed to a Rev. Mem- 
ber of this Convention,* was published, many years ago, 
in a narrative of the transaction referred to, by another 
Rev. Brother, formerly of this State, f And I am happy 
in the idea, that a venerable father of the Church, now 
dead, and dui ing his life very attentive to the concerns of 
pur American Churches, yet speaks to you in what I am 
delivering from this place. 

:;,!The principle which I am inculcating is obligatory not 
only on preachers, as such, but on all persons, whether 
of the clerical order or of the laity, who may be ap- 
pointed to the exercise of the legislative authority of the 
Church. I know that this contradicts the notions which 
some persons have framed to themselves, of liberality and 
toleration. Strange misapplication of the words ! Is it not 
sufficiently liberal diat we leave those who differ from us 
to the judgment of our common Master; duly estimating 
what virtues they may possess, and making every charitable 
allowance for what we may conceive to be their errors? 
Is it not sufficiendy tolerant to show ourselves as far from 

* Dr. Smith, of Pennsylvania. 

t Dr. Chandler, of Elizabeth-Towu. 



19 



having the will, as, God be thanked, we are, in this land 
of freedom, from the power, of inflicting injury for diver- 
sity of opinion? And can there be no claim to the virtues 
spoken of, until we acknowledge no truth which some per- 
sons may suppose to be an error, and until we have no 
prayers to which there are opinions in opposition ? It may 
be doubted whether, on such a ground, there can be any 
social worship: But it is certain that such a system is not 
in the gospel, which proclaims " the truth as it is in Jesus," 
independently on what may be the speculations of fallible 
men. It may happen — it has happened to the said divine 
truth, to be disfigured by the additions of human weakness. 
To disengage the Church from these, is incumbent on tliose 
wdio govern in it, according to the best of their ability, and 
as they shall answer to the Judge of all. But they are 
not to do this by the sacrifice of gospel doctrine to doubt 
and unbelief ; which would render the Church of Christ an 
institution dependent on the changing interests and the un- 
foreseen incidents of different times ; and not that spiritual 
society always subject to the same faith, the same sacra^ 
ments, and the same ministry ; and whose divine Plead has 
promised to be with it " even unto the end of the world." 

The next point to which the discourse applies is that of 
the discipline of the Church : for it has been of the essence 
of the subject, that the spiritual harvest promised was the 
gathering of a social body. To this body there must be- 
long all the attributes which are found in society under its 
various forms: which attributes, so far as the society in 
question is concerned, must be considered in connection 
with whatever else has been determined by its divine Foun- 
der, as especially belonging to it. The different portions of 
this spiritual body extended over the world, are joined toge- 
ther by the common tie of the *' unity of the Spirit, and 
^' the bond of peace." But, besides tliis, each part is charged 
with the preservation in itself of the integrity of the com- 
pion faith, and tlie administration of its local interests and 



20 



eoncerns. Now, if there be such a body grounded, as the 
argument implies, not on voluntary association, but on di- 
vine institution ; and if there rests on each particular part of 
the body, the obligation of maintaining and of extending 
the influence of gospel truth, no doubt its success must 
very much depend on the unblemished reputation of its 
members : and it is evident, that licentiousness, in any de- 
gree, and in any shape, must operate in contrariety to the 
profession made, however true and holy, 
^i',* Under these circumstances, it is difficult to believe that 
any one can be persuaded of the divine institution of the 
Christian Church, and not at least entertain the wish, that 
the discipline of it might clear it of the scandal of every 
person who lives in violation of its moral precepts. 

Far be it from me to hold up ecclesiastical authority, as 
extending to a discipline of the mind. If there be any re- 
ligious societies who think, that, by such means, they can 
accomplish such an object, it is not the sense of the Church 
to which we belong: for she considers as her legitimate 
children all who, having been brought within her commu- 
nion by the regenerating rite of Baptism, have not swerved, 
in conduct, from the profession therein made by them, or 
in their name. She knows that there may be tares growing 
among the wheat; but she remembers the injunction of the 
Lord of the field — " let both grow together until the har- 
^* vest:" and she therefore restrains the officious zeal of 
those servants who might be tempted to " gather up the 
^* tares," by the exercise of an inquisitorial authority over 
the movements of the mind. But if there be any living in 
sensuality, or in profaneness, or in dishonesty, or in avowed 
disbelief of our holy religion ; ^aiid if there be any christian 
•who is not wounded by the dishonour which the Church 
sustains from the membership and exercised rights of persons 
so living, such a christian must have less sensibility to the 
honour of that body of Christ of Vv'hich he is a part, than 
he vrould have for the reputation of any human associatioiij. 



^1 



intended for the transaction of the business of the world, or 
for the entertainment of conversation. 
: I know the magnitude of the work which I am holding 
up as an object of desire: I am aware of the weight of 
character necessary to prevent every elFort towards it from 
being not only impotent, but contemptible : I confess that 
nothing ought to be done in it, unless it can be, as nearly 
as human infirmity will permit, without prejudice or parti- 
ality: and I calculate on the clamorous pretences which 
would be made of persecution, however unconnected the 
matter with any civil interests. I hope that, in considera- 
tion of these impediments, we do not stand guilty in the 
eye of the Father of mercies, of criminal neglect of a trust, 
which, to all appearance, and under present circumstances, 
cannot be exercised for the Church's good, except in that 
moderate degree which I suppose it to be practised by all 
the Clergy, the repelling of immoral livers from the cele- 
bration of the Eucharist. Yet this hinders not its being a 
.^matter of devout desire, and much tending to the propaga- 
tion of the gospel, that, in regard to every ungodly and 
licentious liver, we were in the practice of that precept of 
the gospel, applied to this very matter — Put away from 
among yourselves that wicked person." 
There is a more limited exercise of ecclesiastical disci- 
pline, concerning which I take this opportunity of declar- 
ing my opinion, that there are no existing circumstances 
apologizing for the neglect of it; I mean as it respects im- 
moral Clergymen, if such are to be found. There is so 
glaring an inconsistency in preaching to others what we 
have no sense of the duty of practising ourselves ; there is 
such a mockery of God in assuming, at ordination, those 
solemn vows, which are not intended to have any opera- 
tion on the conscience: in short, an immoral Clergyman 
so much shocks the sense which mankind in general enter- 
tain of decency, that both saints and sinners will honour 



122 



every exertion for the clearing of the Church from the 
scandal of his irregularities. 

It is your preacher's duty to suppose, that no such case 
exists as that which he contemplates to be a ground of ec-» 
clesiastical censure. It is more especially his duty to sup- 
pose so, because, if such a case were to be found, it must 
be either not within the sphere of his acquaintance, or, if 
within it, not subject to his notice, until brought before him 
by those on whom it lies to make the presentation : and, on 
any other principle, he would be in the double character of 
accuser and judge. While, therefore, he is conscious of a 
readiness to exercise the authority committed to him by our 
ecclesiastical institutions, he finds himself warranted and* 
incited by his subject, to make a call on the consciences of 
those who hear him, to do in this matter what lies on them 
in their respective places ; to do it as a measure eminentlyi 
conducive to the honour and the increase of the Christian 
Church, and as removing from themselves the foul reproach 
of countenancing iniquity by a sinful toleration more effec- 
tually than, they can recommend, by any other means, the 
practice of religious and moral duty. 

The obligation now stated is peculiarly incumbent on our 
Church, in consideration of the claim made by her (we 
trust with truth) of a nearer conformity than that of many 
othfef- 'Communities of christians, to the practice of primi-i 
live antiquity, particularly in respect to the orders of the 
ministry. These orders, say we, three in number, were 
of apostolic institution, and existed universally in the 
Church, as now among us, until within a few ages of these 
later times. We think tliat the current of testimony is in 
our favour. Still, we must acknowledge, that there has been 
the exercise of much learning and ingenuity on the other 
side; and that the generality of christians are not possessed 
of the materials of knowledge which enter into the merits 
of the question. They have, however, sufficient reason 



23 



to believe, on the testimony of all who write or speak con- 
cerning the early ages of the Church, in the devotion, the 
charity, and the holy lives of its worthy fathers : and, while 
this is the case, there will be a considerable bias to the sup- 
position, that the best pretensions to antiquity must be with 
those who have the most of the purity of manners by which 
antiquity was adorned. 

Before I leave this part of my subject, I will venture to 
rise above the tone of argument to that of prediction, 
grounded not on the fancy of supernatural communica- 
tion, but on observation of men and manners, and some 
small knowledge of the history of preceding times. We 
have been anticipating the future progress of the gospel, as 
an event grounded on the truth of God. Now my predic- 
tion is, that whatever may be the extent in which the ex- 
pected progress may be realized, very little of it will arise 
from the exertions of any Church, in which a Minister may 
be a by- word for his immoralities, without being driven 
from the administration of its ordinances. Instances of this 
sort offend in such a degree, that the Church which tole- 
iates them will constantly behold people going off from her 
communion; some to infidelity, and others to any sect that 
has, at least, an apparent sense of the sanctity of its profes- 
sion. — But I pass from doctrine which may be in the head, 
without affecting the heart, and from discipline which can 
extend no further than to the preventing of licentious con- 
duct, to the 

Third and last branch of this part of my subject, that of 
morals: I mean christian morals; comprehending as well 
the graces of the mind, as the exercise of them in the per- 
formance of all the duties of practical obligation. 

I consider myself as at this time exhorting to an holy life 
and conversation, with an especial view to the subject. I 
say nothing, therefore, of a preparation for the high demand, 
" Give an account of your stewardship." I do not bring 
forward the interest which we have in the apostolic iiitima- 



24 



tion, of " saving ourselves as well as those who hear us:'* 
and I put out of view the danger of being found among 
those who, having prophesied, that is, preached in their 
Master's name, shall be the subjects of the disdainful rejec- 
tion—" Depart from me, I never knew you." All these 
things shall be forgotten, while I contemplate the effects of 
our labours on the extension of the Messiah's kingdom, 
which shall at last, whether with our instrumentality or 
without it, know no bounds, and endure for ever. 

Can any one doubt, that tms blessed cause is hindered by 
every instance of a profession of godliness, without its be- 
ing accompanied by the power? Certainly not: for so 
congenial is the sense of religion to the human mind, that 
men can, in no other way, wholly discard its obligations^ 
than by persuading themselves that there are no practical 
uses of it to be discerned. They, indeed, are apt to adopt this 
opinion, on the ground of very imperfect observation ; not 
estimating the innumerable occasions on which, in ways 
unseen, religion exercises her restraints ; and the many others 
in which, in like ways, she administers her consolations. 
Yes, they judge in error; but it is prompted and confirmed 
in them, in proportion as they think they see the inefficiency 
of this blessed governess, towards regulating the known con- 
duct of those who seem to be the best informed of its evi- 
dences, and who have brought themselves under the weigh-* 
tiest of its obhgations. 

We live at a time when a specious but unsound philoso- 
phy has made, and is still making, havock within the fold 
of Christ's flock ; and the consideration of this alarming 
fact ought to bring a charge on the conscience, not to say 
of every delinquent professor, but of every one who does 
not evidence in his actions a sense of religion over his mind^ 
of being accessary to that murder of unwary souls. The 
pen of inspiration has intimated a period when, notwiih- 
sianding an intervening prevalence of the gospel, " Satan 

shall be let loose for a season/* I presume not to deter* 



25 



mine the date of the especial fulfihiient of the prediction; 
but it has been, and may be expected to be again, in various 
degrees, fulfilled in different times and places, by extra- 
ordinary efforts of ungodly men against the truth. Let 
such a temporary dominion of the wicked one happen when 
or where it may, it will be marked by trophies of violence, 
of desolation, of human misery of every description and 
degree ; and, therefore, woe be to those who become con- 
tributors to such mischiefs, in contrariety as well to their 
inward convictions, as to the testimony of their professions. 

To all appearance, these States are designed by Provi-i 
dence to be an increasing, and, at last, an immense addi- 
tion to the population, the agriculture, the commerce, and 
the stock of useful arts throughout the world. All this 
will be dependent on our laws, on our policy, and on the 
administration of them both. But will these again have 
no dependence on the degree of influence which religion 
shall exercise alike over those who are to govern, as over 
those who are to obey ? Unquestionably they will : and, 
in proportion as the constitutions of our country disclaim 
that agency which directly applies the religious principle 
to the promotion of its purposes, there will be the heavier 
obligation on religious bodies to extend, by the means of 
their exertions in their collective capacities, and by their 
examples as individuals, the influence of this only effectual 
restraint on the injurious passions of mankind. This opens 
before us a prospect in which we cannot but perceive an 
immense field already white to harvest:" a rising empire 
calling for religious cultivation, not only as essential to the 
enjoyment of all the blessings which a gracious Providence 
has bestowed ; but to check that prevalence of irreligion, 
which will otherwise make it, in future times, the seat of 
licentiousness, of civil discord, and, perhaps, of barbarism. 

I trust that considerations of this sort will operate as a 
charge on those of my audience, whether clerical or lay, 
who aje at this time assembled to exercise the ecclesiastical 



26 



jurisdiction of our Church. For, should it be found that there 
is in their conduct any deviation from good morals; and 
more especially should they be known, in societies of ano- 
ther cast, to be unbelievers in the divine authority of the 
religion, the concerns of which they have undertaken to 
administer, it cannot but affect the reputation of any coun- 
sels adopted with their concurrence, and tend to load us 
with the reproach of being a withered branch of the Uni- 
versal Church. There are no circumstances of civil respec- 
tability which can atone for any defect of moral character, 
or for the want of a sense of religion in the mind, as a 
qualification for the work before us. To dispense with 
these, on the score of any extraneous considerations, is to 
" build with untempered mortar," and has as little chance 
of being respectable in the eye of the world, as it has of 
claim to the promise of the divine blessing. 

On the clerical members of this Convention there is an 
especial call to whatever contributes to the progress of the 
gospel. Yes, my Rev. Brethren, you will consider it as 
falling in with the design of the appointment of a preacher, 
when he incites both himself and you to a purity suited to 
the work which we have in hand. Let us, therefore, look 
forward to the times displayed to the eye of faith by the 
sure word of prophecy, and remark how much may be de- 
pendent on our zeal, our charity, our temperance in re- 
gard to this world, and our transcendent affection for ano- 
ther. Let us consider, further, that besides the abundant 
harvest, to the contemplation of which we are carried by 
my text, and by similar passages of scripture, we may al- 
ways, in a lower sense of the expression, " behold the field 
" already white to harvest," in the multitude of persons 
who may be brought to an holy life and conversation, by 
our instructions, our exhortations, and our reproofs ; and let 
us avail ourselves of the blessed opportunity for this, while it 
shall continue. In regard to the business brought before us 
on this occasion of our being assembled, let the recollection 



27 



of the trust committed to us prevent every word and eveiy 
feeling which may be discordant to the nature of rehgious 
inquiry and opinion. Finally, I trust that it is not an undue 
partiality to the apostolical constitution of our ministry, to 
the evangelical tenour of our doctrine, and to the edifying 
spirit of our offices, when I venture confidently to predict, 
that, let them be adorned by the correspondent manners of 
the ministers, and of the members generally, of our Church, 
and they will render her " a joy and praise in the whole 
earth securing to her a splendid share in the accomplish- 
ment of the promise — " From the rising of the sun, even 
*' unto the going down of the same, my name shall be great 
*' among the Gentiles, and in every place incense shall be 
" offered unto my name, and a pure offering." 

If in the circumstances which I have stated, and if in the 
sentiments which have arisen from them, there be any thing 
of an edifying tendency, it will doubtless have its effect on 
the mind of tlie Rev. Person to the consecration of whom 
we shall soon proceed. 

My Rev. Brother will not be displeased with the confes- 
sion, unconnected with his personal character, that in en- 
tering on the administration of this holy rite, I experience 
sensations of a painful nature. A celebrated Roman has, 
in a pleasing dress of eloquence, displayed the sentiment, 
that delegation to the same civil office is a ground on which 
benevolence and friendly offices may be expected.* The 
remark seems reasonable: and if so, how much more sa- 
cred is a relation between two persons, who, under the 
appointment of a Christian Church, had been successfully 
engaged together in obtaining for it the succession to the 
apostolic office of the Episcopacy; who, in the subsequent 
exercise of that Episcopacy, had jointly laboured in all the 
ecclesiastical business which has occurred among us ; who, 
through the whole of it, never knew a word, or even a 



* Cicero pro Murajna. 



28 



sensation, tending to personal dissatisfaction or disunion; 
and who had lived, during the time, in the exchange of all 
the friendly civilities which the circumstances of their re- 
spective residence permitted. In respect to such persons, 
no event can be altogether welcome to one of them, under 
such circumstances as now occur relative to the other;* 
or prevent the former from mourning over the want of 
health, or any other cause that has lead to the transaction 
of this day, however proper. 

I the more confidently give vent to what I feel, from the 
belief, that there are many present who so well know my 
affection for the elected Bishop, and my opinion of his 
abilities, of his integrity, and of his zeal, as to screen me 
from the imputation of indelicacy towards him. I have, 
indeed, so sanguine an expectation of his future usefulness, 
that I might be tempted rather confidently to foretell, than 
earnestly to exhort to it, were it not for the consideration 
of that universal insecurity of human virtue during this 
state of frailty, which should be an incitement to him, to 
me, and to the whole ministry, to live under the influence 
of a caution, which even an Apostle thought applicable 
to his standing in the Christian life; viz. of taking care, 

lest, while we preach -to others, we ourselves should be- 

come cast aways." 

Yes, my Brother, this is a danger which will still attend 
you, notwitlistanding your present attainments, your past 
worthy conduct in the order of the Presbytery, and the 
reputation which you have thus acquired : a danger to which 
you well know nothing is equal but the grace to be invoked 
on your behalf in the ensuing service ; which may be pro- 
nounced to be as instructive, as solemn, and as affecting 
a display, as human ingenuity can devise, of the duties on 

* Bishop Provoost, who was induced, by ill health, and other causes, 
to resign his Episcopal Jurisdiction of the Protestant Episcopal Church 
in the State of New- York. 



29 



which you are entering. It will, therefore, be sufficient to 
remind you, that the Church need have no better security 
for your faithful discharge of the trust which, by our hands, 
she is committing to you, than your keeping always be- 
fore you the engagements which she exacts of you at this 
solemn crisis, as what should liave an abiding weight on 
your conscience, and be a continual incitement of your best 
faculties and affections. 




027 261 194 4 




Hnllinorw Com. 



